July has been so off-the-charts hot with heat waves blistering three continents – North America, Europe and Asia – that researchers said a record was inevitable. “Unless an ice age were to appear all of sudden out of nothing, it is basically virtually certain we will break the record for the warmest July on record and the warmest month on record,” Copernicus Director Carlo Buontempo told The Associated Press. Scientists say that such shattering of heat records is a harbinger for future climate-altering changes as the planet warms. Copernicus calculated that through the first 23 days of July, Earth’s temperature averaged 16.95 degrees Celsius ( 62.5 degrees Fahrenheit). That’s nearly one-third of a degree Celsius (almost 0.6 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter than the previous record for the hottest month, July 2019.

Source: The Nation July 27, 2023 18:03 UTC